Page 21 of Make Them Bleed (Pretty Deadly Things #1)

Arrow

The moment the outer door slams behind Knight, the loft exhales into silence.

Without the whirr of three extra laptops and five sets of footsteps, the space feels too big, too echo-ey, like a cathedral long after mass has ended.

Fluorescent strips buzz overhead, blinking against the concrete, while street-lamp glow slithers through the high windows and paints the floor in sodium rectangles.

I set the last empty coffee cup on the side table, waiting for its clack to stop echoing. Then I realize it isn’t the cup making my pulse throb in my ears—it’s Juno. She’s still here, across the room, and something in the set of her shoulders tells me we’re not done.

She’s pacing—slow, almost idle—but I know her tells.

Right hand slid into her jacket pocket, thumb rubbing the zipper tab back and forth.

That’s her “I’m processing” tic. She stops at the corkboard, head cocked, studying it like she’s never seen the red yarn before.

A hum of tension radiates off her leather-clad frame.

“Long night,” I venture, voice still wrapped in the Ghostface vocoder. The distortion is habits and shield. Dropping it feels like stepping onto open ice.

“Mmm.” She traces a length of yarn with one fingertip, gaze never leaving the board. “Productive, though.” Pause. “Your friends are…efficient.”

My muscles tense. Your friends , not our friends . I switch off two monitors, buying time. “They’re the best at what they do.”

Silence. I can almost see the gears turning behind her eyes. She pivots on her heel, leans against the corkboard, folds her arms. “Tell me about them.”

“About who?”

“Fillmore. Hayes. Polk. Arthur.” The names drip like test samples. “What do they do when they’re not wearing nineteenth-century presidential headgear?”

I swallow. “Various contracts. Oz— uh, I mean, Arthur handles infiltration logistics. Hayes is eyes-in-the-sky. Polk…well, Polk can charm a fingerprint scanner. Fillmore’s social-engineering royalty.”

“Uh-huh.” She pushes off the wall, begins a slow prowl along the bank of desks. Her boots tap a lazy rhythm. “Where’d you meet them?”

I deflect. “Internet’s a big place.”

She hums noncommittally. “And you, Hoover? Where do you really work? You dodge that question every time I ask.”

The air thins. I let my fingers drum the desk edge once, twice. “Consulting. Secure networks, physical audits. I told you.”

Her eyes flicker—dark humor, maybe hurt. “Consulting’s a big umbrella. Name on the door?”

I hesitate a beat too long. She pounces.

“You’re good,” she says, voice deceptively light. “Too good, actually. You know my tells—did you notice you called out my restless feet before I knew I was doing it?”

I retreat behind the mask—literal, figurative. “Observation is the job.”

“I bet.” She stops dead center of the room, under the rattling ductwork, and stares at me. “One more question.”

“Fire away.”

“What color are your eyes, Hoover?”

Heat slashes across my neck. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to me.” Her chin lifts. Challenge issued.

I try humor. “Black. Soulless. Haven’t you looked into these sockets?”

She steps closer, the sound of her shoes echoing. “Behind the rubber. Behind the voice mod. Tell me whether they’re pine-needle green or warm-brown espresso. Tell me if you have a beard.”

I take an involuntary half-step back. She advances that same half-step, shrinking the gap till I can count the freckles across her nose in the dim glow.

“You’re upset,” I say—stupidly obvious, but the only thing that comes out.

“Upset?” She lets out a shaky laugh and plants both palms on my chest. “I’m livid . And terrified. And weirdly relieved. Pick a cocktail.”

She knows. I don’t know how, but she does.

“I never meant to?—”

“Lies.” She slides her hands up, skimming the hoodie fabric, fingers catching on the hood. She fists it. “You always meant to. You planned every inch of this deception weeks ago.”

The accusation slices. “I planned to keep you safe.”

“By lying to me.”

“Yes.” Flash of anger stiffens my spine. “Because truth would have made you reckless.”

“Oh?” She tilts her head, eyes shining. “And this”—she smacks her palm lightly against the blank white mouth of the mask—“this didn’t make me reckless?”

Static crackles between us. I feel her breath through the mesh mouth vents; she must hear my pulse inside the mask’s cavity. The rubber smell is suddenly suffocating.

“I followed you,” she whispers, voice hot with confession. “Yesterday. From my apartment to Hancock’s to the art store to this exact door. You know what went through my head?”

I can’t answer.

“That if the man behind this mask wasn’t you, I might still trust him—because he keeps me alive.” Her laugh breaks. “Imagine my relief when I realized it was you. And imagine my fury when I realized you didn’t trust me with the truth.”

My lungs ache behind the vocoder’s whine. I lift a hand, gently curl my fingers around her wrist where it grips my hood. “I trust you with everything .”

“Prove it.” Her voice drops to embers.

I tremble as I reach back and unclasp the hood. I rip the mask off, my breathing labored. Cool air rushes over my skin, and I watch her pupils dilate as my face emerges.

Her breath leaves in a shudder. “Arrow.”

One word, soft as prayer. Then she’s moving—hands threading into my hair, tugging my mouth down to hers. The kiss detonates. It’s hot, desperate, and every minute of secrecy igniting at once. I groan against her lips, arms locking around her waist, crushing leather and cotton together.

She tastes like cinnamon coffee and burnt adrenaline.

Her teeth nip my lower lip, and I answer with a hungry tilt, grazing her tongue.

She gasps, the sound vibrating through both of us.

My hands roam—up her back, over her tense shoulder blades, settling at the base of her skull where I cradle her like something precious.

She breaks away just far enough to speak. “You owe me years of honesty, Arrow.”

“I’ll spend the rest of my life paying.” I kiss the corner of her mouth, her cheek, the sensitive patch below her ear. She shivers violently.

“You kissed me with rubber,” she pants. “Kiss me for real .”

I obey, my mouth crushing hers, deeper, giving and taking.

Her fingers sweep beneath my hoodie hem, skimming my flank, and my pulse stutters so hard I nearly stumble.

She presses forward, body pinning mine against the desk edge until hard wood digs into my thighs.

The monitors rattle, their screen savers flickering like distant fireworks.

“Wait,” she whispers, pushing me away.

“What?”

She waves her hand like she’s putting clues together in her head. “How?”

I stumble over my thoughts as I answer, “How what?”

“How did you know I had gone on the dark web and—” She pauses. “—how did you know?”

Fuck. This is something I wasn’t looking forward to explaining. “Let’s go back to the kissing,” I say, trying to lay on my charm, but she’s not having any of it.

“I’m serious, Arrow. How?” She parks both hands on her hips in a way that lets me know I need to answer her now or lose her forever.

I take a step back, breathing in deep. “Spyware on your computer.”

She gasps, like a literal gasp. “What does this mean? Like can you see me through my computer?”

“No, nothing like that… well, technically, but no.”

Her eyes blow wide as she steps back. “You’ve been spying on me? Reading my emails? And god knows what else.”

“I did it to keep you safe.” No, this is all going wrong. “I did it to protect you.”

She moves to the other side of the room. Quickly. Too quickly. “I can’t believe you, Arrow. You don’t think I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

“Well, you’re not.” Oops . I can tell this was the wrong thing to say by the look on her face.

“ I’m not? ” she whispers, and I cross the room to touch her in some small way, reaching out my hand, but she blocks it. “Don’t touch me. Arrow, I’ve never been more mad in my life.”

“Juno, listen, your sister was murdered… we have no idea who did it, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t next.”

“So, you spied on me.” She moves toward the door. “No, I get it. Spy on me and make sure I’m good. Read my emails. Would you like me to install cameras so you can watch me?”

“Well, you already have Ring cameras,” I remind her, and somehow I think I’ve said the wrong thing again.

“And what… you can just hack my Ring, right?”

“Well, technically…” I need to stop with the honesty. I should definitely not tell her I’ve known her passcode to her Ring account for years, and no… I’ve never logged in. Not once.

“I hate you,” she says with conviction.

“That’s harsh.” I step back like she’s slapped me.

“I do…” she looks like she wants to say more, but instead she just hangs her head low and walks out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

And the silence she leaves behind in her wake is deafening.